You defied the gods and are guilty

In the vast, primordial sky, a world of red-gold flames clashed with a golden storm of metal.

Its clamor thundered; its might pierced the heavens!

Jiang Yang and Gilgamesh collided countless times. With their extraordinary fighting wills, both seemed born for battle, executing all manner of exquisite moves with effortless ease.

But in the end, Jiang Yang gained the upper hand, his supreme combat instincts and experience honed countless times between life and death.

As Gilgamesh's strength ebbed, he swept his sword across, unleashing a river of red-gold, flaming sword qi that knocked Gilgamesh straight down to the earth, blasting out a hundred-meter crater.

"Ah, damn you!"

Gilgamesh soon flew out of the crater and stood in the air. His chest had nearly been cleaved apart, stark white bones faintly visible within.

Below, Enkidu, who had been watching the battle all along, felt an unprecedented worry for Gilgamesh.

"The king has never lost before. Will he lose to the Sun God this time?"

In midair.

Gilgamesh looked at Jiang Yang opposite him, his expression calm, his Platinum Longsword in hand, blood dripping from its tip.

Within that calm presence, an invincible spirit that could sweep all before it blazed on, undying.

For the first time, Gilgamesh felt a trace of helplessness. This must have been how his enemies had seen him in the past.

But he quickly steadied himself. He was the golden Human King, and an unyielding warrior.

Facing the radiant god, he called out loudly.

"Sun God, I acknowledge your strength. May I know your name?"

"Jiang Yang."

The radiant god nodded lightly, as though acknowledging that he, too, was powerful.

Gilgamesh smiled. He could sense that this god was powerful but not arrogant. If they were not enemies, perhaps they could have become very good friends.

He spoke proudly, laughing wildly.

"Jiang Yang, I'm going to use all my strength!"

With that, Gilgamesh's body suddenly began to swell violently.

Soon, a hundred-meter-long Golden Dragon appeared in the sky.

Jiang Yang's gaze sharpened. Looking at the enormous creature before him, resembling the Western dragons in films he had once seen, he was finally astonished and spoke, visibly moved.

"What is this?"

The Golden Dragon beat his brilliant golden wings, soaring through the sky.

His roar was like that of an ancient overlord of the skies, the aura of a king at the very top of the food chain spreading throughout heaven and earth!

"Jiang Yang, I am also Mother's child, and I know the system of your Divine Clan. This is a realm that even you so-called gods have never reached-the second step of Emperor-Rank."

"You rely too much on external things and neglect your own evolution! Today, I will show you what strength means!"

The Golden Dragon roared, his voice shaking heaven and earth.

Watching Gilgamesh transform into a Golden Dragon, Jiang Yang finally understood.

"So this is the path to take beyond Emperor-Rank. In this regard, I must thank you, Gilgamesh. You have walked ahead of everyone."

Above the Sumerian Shelter, Mar looked toward the battlefield, his brows tightly furrowed, his fists clenching involuntarily.

He had never imagined that among the Golden Humans, whom he had never thought much of, an awakened individual even more outstanding than them would emerge.

Even though he was a hybrid of god and human, Gilgamesh possessed every characteristic of the Golden Humans!

High in the sky, the dragon roared, soaring through the heavens.

Suddenly, he dove, charging straight at Jiang Yang, who was still standing in midair.

Jiang Yang dodged nimbly, casually slashing the Golden Dragon's body as he passed, sending sparks flying with the scrape of metal.

Gilgamesh's scales could withstand most harm in the world, impervious to water and fire, impenetrable to blades and spears.

When his strike missed, he returned to the high heavens and continued launching an unending series of charges at Jiang Yang.

Jiang Yang's face was calm, his expression grave, every part of his body, energy, and spirit stretched taut.

Gilgamesh could endure countless strikes from him, but if Jiang Yang was hit even once, he would suffer a crushing defeat!

In the sky, a man and a dragon fought to the death, like a myth brought to life.

Even the raging winds were stirred, and the grasses and trees were crushed flat.

Jiang Yang twisted and darted through the sky, managing to fight the Golden Dragon to a standstill.

The heavens blazed in fury; the dragon roared.

Only by pouring out all his strength and combining his flames with his will could Jiang Yang leave wounds on the Golden Dragon.

At last.

As he lost himself in battle, his soaring, undying fighting will quietly entered an indescribable state; an immortal divine radiance faintly blossomed from his body.

His realm had not changed, yet his fighting strength began to rise exponentially.

In Uruk, someone dressed distinctly differently from the surrounding Golden Humans lifted a bamboo hat and looked up at the sky in shock.

"Heavens, this is the forbidden domain! To think that in the ancient age of myth, someone could reach this forbidden combat state!"

She was a breathtakingly beautiful young woman whose appearance was almost identical to that of the Old Humans.

She had black hair and black eyes, and everything about her had a science-fiction style, as though she had traveled backward from the future into antiquity.

Beside her, a man in white gently pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose, looking toward the sky as he spoke softly.

"The Sun God of the ancient Sumerians. Ancient texts record that no one knew when he appeared, nor when he disappeared. He was far more mysterious than the other Sumerian Gods."

"A pity that the Heroic Spirit Throne's time tunnel doesn't allow more powerful beings to travel back along the River of Time. Otherwise, we would have to get to the bottom of this."

The black-haired young woman sighed and continued.

"Yes, it really does make one curious. But Gilgamesh is about to fall in defeat. Get ready to summon the Heroic Spirit Throne and retrieve his heroic spirit. The world-ending catastrophe in the future will need the strength of heroes like him!"

"Mm!"

High in the heavens.

Jiang Yang seemed to have entered a new domain. His vision seemed to rise beyond into another dimension, as though he had broken through an incomparably profound and mysterious doorway.

An immortal fighting will like steel enveloped him, and an invincible spirit that could sweep across the world gathered upon his longsword.

Soon, the Golden Dragon Gilgamesh had become was covered in wounds. Endless blood dripped from the sky onto the earth, falling upon the subjects in Uruk.

Seeing the golden blood showering down onto his face, a trace of sorrow appeared on Enkidu's face.

He knew that the king had lost!

At last, the Golden Dragon fell to the earth, collapsing onto the palace, blood flowing like a river beneath him.

Covered in blood, Jiang Yang stood atop the dragon's head and spoke calmly.

"You should not have defied the gods, Gilgamesh."

The moment those words left his mouth, Jiang Yang suddenly realized that they were much like the lines spoken by villains in many films and shows he had watched.

The sun's radiance spilled across the earth, illuminating the ancient city-state.

Within the palace, the sculptor who had once depicted Gilgamesh slaying the Bull of Heaven was deeply shaken by this scene.

After returning home, he spent the rest of his life creating a mural that would be passed down through the ages.

Meanwhile, looking at the enormous Golden Dragon fallen in the distance and the god standing upon him, blazing with boundless radiance, the black-haired young woman in the city recited as though chanting an epic.

"The king raised his rebellious blade against the heavenly god, only to be coldly pressed to the ground by the god."

"The earth sighed, the subjects wept, and even the sky seemed to lose its color."

"The god said, Gilgamesh, you have defied the gods and are guilty!"